Korean Corn Cheese. Sweet corn simmered in buttery melty cheese with imitation crab meat. Ready in just 10 minutes on the stove with minimal ingredients.
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What is Korean Corn Cheese?
Korean Corn Cheese is a delicious sweet creamy corn mixture with melting cheese on top served bubbly hot. It's a popular Korean food served at many Korean restaurants or Korean BBQ restaurants. This Korean dish is served as a side dish with your main dishes like grilled meat and usually placed on the side of the grill. It's made of minimal and simple ingredients such as canned corn, cheese, imitation crab meat (optional), butter, Japanese mayo or Kewpie mayo, sugar, salt and black pepper. It originates from South Korea and is widely popular especially in Korean barbecue cuisine.
This quick and easy Korean corn cheese dish is super easy to make. It quickly comes together with canned corn and shredded cheese. I love this cheesy corn because of the simplicity of the ingredients. Many recipes call for you to use an oven safe cast-iron skillet or a cast iron pan with an oven to broil the cheese. However, the best part about my recipe is that you won't need either! You just need a frying pan with a lid, and a stovetop!
Not a fan of imitation crab meat? Omit it!
The corn kernels will taste just as good without it if you're not a fan. But if you are a fan, the imitation crab meat compliments this Korean BBQ corn cheese well by elevating the overall flavours.
Ingredients
For this recipe you’ll need the following Korean corn cheese ingredients. Please scroll down to recipe card below for full measurements.
- Canned corn or substitute with in-season corn if you don't mind the extra time and effort. The sweetness of the corn makes a big difference in this dish so I like using canned corn or fresh sweet corn for this recipe.
- Mozzarella cheese shreds: I like using grated fresh mozzarella cheese. This makes this recipe super easy! But feel free to use what you have and grate yourself if needed. If you're shopping for cheese, it's best to use the low-moisture mozzarella for this dish so there's less moisture in the pan to evaporate.
- Butter: I prefer using unsalted butter for less sodium but feel free to use salted if that's all you have. Or substitute with vegan butter if you wish.
- Imitation crab meat, optional: I love adding this ingredient but feel free to omit if you'd like! It adds an umami flavor and a chewy texture as well as color. Or substitute with real crab meat if you wish.
- Kewpie mayonnaise or Japanese Mayo: A delicious ultra creamy mayonnaise that is only made with yolk and no whites making it different from normal mayo. However, if you can't find this type of mayo in your area, feel free to substitute with the normal kind.
- White Granulated Sugar: A little bit of sugar helps balance this recipe.
- Black pepper: This helps flavor the dish a bit more and helps to balance out the creaminess of the mayo.
Note: Your Korean or Asian grocery store will carry most of the Asian specific ingredients.
How to make Korean Corn Cheese
Strain Canned Corn
Strain your canned corn of the excess water and transfer to a medium bowl.
Prepare Imitation Crab Meat
Chop your imitation crab meat into chunks, about 2 cm in length. This is optional.
Melt Butter & Add Corn
Over medium heat in a non-stick pan, melt the butter. Add strained corn and mix with butter.
Add Remaining Ingredients
Then add mayo, sugar, black pepper, imitation crab meat (optional) and combine corn with these ingredients.
Evaporate Liquids
Cook until liquids have evaporated or for 4 to 5 minutes, uncovered.
Add Some Cheese
Add half the amount of cheese and mix.
Melt Remaining Cheese on Top
Lower heat to LOW. Add remaining cheese on top. Cover to melt it for about 2-3 minutes. Serve & enjoy!
Storage & Reheating
This Korean corn cheese recipe is best consumed within 24 hours. But you may store up to 3-4 days in the fridge in an airtight container. To reheat, reheat on the stovetop until hot or in the microwave for 2 minutes.
Expert Tips
- Chop imitation crab meat into chunks. This allows for an even distribution of the crab meat and makes it easier to break up in the pan
- Use a non-stick pan. This will prevent a sticky mess to clean up later. Trust me you won’t want to spend 10 minutes of your time scraping off stuck-on cheese.
- Strain liquids in canned corn. This reduces the cooking time in the pan. If you don’t strain the liquids, it’ll distort the taste and cause for additional time to evaporate the liquids possibly overcooking your corn.
FAQ
Below are frequently asked questions about this butter cheese corn Korean:
What kind of corn did you use?
This Korean corn cheese with canned corn makes for a much easier method of cooking this dish. But you can use sweet fresh corn on the cob. To be specific, I’m using the brand Green Giant “Corn Niblets”
Other Corn recipes you may like!
📖 Recipe
10-min. Easy Korean Corn Cheese
Ingredients
- 2 cans corn niblets (341 ml per can)
- ½ cup mozzarella cheese shredded
- 1 tablespoon butter unsalted
- 6 sticks imitation crab meat optional
- ¼ cup Japanese mayo aka Kewpie Mayo
- 1 teaspoon white granulated sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Strain your canned corn of the liquids.
- Chop your imitation crab meat into chunks, about 2 cm in length. This ingredient is optional.
- Over medium heat in a 10-inch non-stick pan, melt the butter. Add strained corn and mix with butter.
- Then add mayo, sugar, black pepper, imitation crab meat (optional) and mix.
- Cook until liquids have evaporated, about 4 minutes, uncovered.
- Add half the amount of cheese and mix with corn.
- Lower heat to LOW. Add remaining cheese on top. Cover to melt it for about 2 minutes. Serve & enjoy!
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Maria
Wow! This combination was delicious. The whole family loved it
AR Haggerty
I love how simple this was! I changed out the crab for chicken (I don't like sea food), and it is a whole meal all by itself!
christieathome
Thank you so much for making my recipe and sharing this kind review! Love the substitute idea 🙂